The Human Resources Manager

Winner of five of Israel's top film honors—including Best Picture—this moving, understated drama from director Eran Riklis charts the journey of the titular dissatisfied bureaucrat (Mark Ivanir) from Jerusalem to Romania to oversee the burial of “Employee 535,” Yulia, a foreign worker who perished in a suicide bombing. Due to a snafu, the company did not claim her body, and the mix-up is a target for an investigative reporter (Guri Alfi) who wants to exploit the situation. The human resources manager (no characters other than the victim are identified by name) has his own problems—he hates his job and is estranged from his wife and daughter. But under orders from his boss (Gila Almagor) to save the reputation of his employer—a corporate bakery—he escorts the deceased Yulia back to her homeland. Darkly comic detours arise along the way, but as his trip progresses, the HRM comes to admire this person he never knew, ultimately rediscovering the humanity he has lost over the years. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)